New Orleans Pelicans' Dejounte Murray Problem Is Holding Team Back

The New Orleans Pelicans have one big issue holding them back right now, and there doesn't seem to be much being done to mitigate it: the fit of Dejounte Murray on this team.

One thing should be made clear, the struggles of this season do not fall entirely on Murray's shoulders. Two things can be true at once, though. The Pelicans would also be right to expect more out of the guard they are paying $32.8 million this year.

The 30-year-old is someone who, on paper, brings everything this team needs. He's a former All-Defense player (granted that was in 2017/2018), can score at the rim, can rebound well and always puts up solid playmaking numbers. The problem is that they really haven't gotten all of that from him.

He has played 31.8 minutes per game, but his production is the worst it has been in over six seasons. He's putting up 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game on 43.8/29.2/96.2 shooting splits. The team is 1-7 when he plays, and 3-0 when he doesn't. That isn't to say that they need to bench him overall, but how they have been using him hasn't been working.

It is still early to rely on just on/off stats, but those don't help Murray's case either. Between 243 minutes of action and 250 minutes off the court, the team has a -12.4 difference per 100 possessions using Databallr. The offense takes a slight dip overall, but the defense is far worse with him on.

One major issue with the offense is that the team's spacing, which is already poor, takes a huge dip in both frequency and efficiency. Part of that has been seen with the ball slowing down in that two-guard lineup, with too much focus on the rim and not kicking out to teammates on the perimeter.

Pretty much everything takes a dip on the defensive side of the ball, except for rebounding, which improves by 0.9%.

A lot has been made of this new starting lineup of Murray, Jeremiah Fears, Trey Murphy, Zion Williamson and Karlo Matkovic, but the team is actually very close to finding something that makes a ton of sense. That unit has the second-best net rating on the team. The only one that is better has one change: Herb Jones in as the second guard.

Despite Jones being viewed as a worse player on offense, the team's overall offense is only one point better with Murray in that group instead. The defense is 17.5 points better with Jones in. 

With the fact that Fears and Murray haven't been able to figure out the roles together in that backcourt, it makes sense that Jones would be the better choice to start next to Fears, who is the team's future at point guard. That creates a five-man group with clear strengths and roles. The problem is that there has been no indication that this team is ready to make that change.

There is a lot going on behind the scenes that is playing into it, but that's part of the game. New Orleans has to figure out a way to move forward, because they won't be able to improve enough until they do.